Musk missed the AI train despite his ambitions and resources.
I doubt Musk’s business rationale will play out in his favor because Elon has largely missed the AI train. His chatbot Grok has failed to gain traction, and xAI has yet to deliver groundbreaking innovations. He even advocated for pausing AI development at one point. While buying OpenAI could position him at the center of U.S. AI hegemony dreams, especially as Trump signals tighter AI access controls, AI isn’t like nuclear energy. DeepSeek’s rise shows that open-source alternatives are advancing rapidly, trade barriers won’t stop AI proliferation, and restrictive policies may push innovation outside the U.S.